Month: July 2017

Guide in a sentence: Guides lead the way to a more favorable outcome if their guidance is in service of the other’s full potential and growth.

Guide in action: When you lead a person in making decisions and/or in pursuing life choices, that is a guide.

Guide and inner growth: A look at who guides you and how you guide yourself gives you eyes on the things you’ve already grown in, as well as the aspects you are continuously pursuing for your inner growth or that you’re helping another achieve for their inner growth. Either way, this exploration allows inner growth since it enables you to find areas that you may be ignoring or areas that you are pretty happy with and areas that you want to tweak as you move forward.

Guide and inner growth action steps:

In-depth self-exploration questions: What does it mean to me to guide? How have I been my own guide? Who else do I consider a guide? Who have I guided? How have I grown thanks to my guide(s)? When did I first think about a guide in my life? What are some of the biggest life lessons I’ve achieved thanks to my guide? How has my guide affected my relationships?

List or word bubble: Make a list or word bubble with guide at the center and then list or put around it all the other words that come to mind associated with it. From this list pick three words that stand out the most and write about what made them stand out to you. Then pick one of the three and think of one instance where you guided someone else. Write about your experience using the words from the first list and notice what stands out about this special life moment.

Bring your awareness to your feelings about guide and as your feelings flow within you, visualize a calm place where you see yourself guiding yourself in making some very important decisions. As you visualize this notice if your emotions change. When you’re ready add to your visualization one person that you’ve guided. See how your feelings change as you add this person to the “picture”. When you’re ready hone in on the strongest feeling that stands out in that moment.

Your turn – Share your guide sentence, life examples, and inner growth action steps; and let me know if you’d like to see something added to our Inner Growth Word of The Day explorations 🙂

Demeaning in a sentence: A demeaning act hides a deeper meaning for the person who is taking such an action towards another, whether through words, thoughts or behavior.

Demeaning in action: In the moment that you say something with the intent to lower the reputation or make look bad the person you are saying that something about, that is demeaning.

Demeaning and inner growth: Exploring demeaning acts and/or thoughts that you have towards others gives you insights into your inner insecurities and this allows you to not only overcome those insecurities, but also to change that demeaning behavior. This type of exploration also allows you to understand what is really happening when someone says something to you demeaning or does something that intends to have a demeaning effect. In both instances, you are able to gain takeaways that enrich your life and inner person.

Demeaning and inner growth action steps:

In-depth self-exploration questions: What does demeaning mean to me? How have I been demeaning to others? When was the first time I experienced a demeaning act or discussion? What hidden messages have I found from the demeaning behavior I’ve extend towards others and/or received by others through their actions and words? Who comes to mind when I think of the word demeaning? Why? What are some of my biggest life lessons from situations where demeaning behavior was involved?

List or word bubble: Make a list or word bubble with demeaning at the center and then list or put around it all the other words that come to mind associated with it. From this list pick two words and associate to each word a situation where you were demeaning and then two where someone was demeaning to you. Pick one of each (one where you were demeaning to another and vice versa) and use the list of words to write about both of these life events. When you’re done notice what similarities and differences you see between the two.

Bring your awareness to your feelings about demeaning and allow those feelings to flow freely from head to toe, without thinking much. Just focus on where you feel those emotions throughout your body. Notice if there are places where you feel more presence of those feelings than other areas. As you focus on those emotions within your body, allow one thought to come in about something demeaning and then change that thought to have a positive outcome for both people involved. Do this as many times as you want.

Your turn – Share your demeaning sentence, life examples, and inner growth action steps; and let me know if you’d like to see something added to our Inner Growth Word of The Day explorations 🙂

Unconditional in a sentence: When a feeling is unconditional it goes beyond the unimaginable and surprises you in ways that will leave you overwhelmed with gratitude and joy.

Unconditional in action: Loving someone without limits or wanting something in return is unconditional.

Unconditional and inner growth: Exploring the unconditional attributes and feelings you have and hold for others and in life allows you to understand that which you are willing to go beyond and above for; which is also an indication of those things that are important to you and your life joy. This type of awareness allows you to pursue inner growth by expanding and/or transforming those unconditional things.

Unconditional and inner growth action steps:

In-depth self-exploration questions: How does unconditional affect me? Why do I apply unconditional feelings to some things and not others? What have I learned about life through unconditional feelings? When was the first time I experienced something unconditional? Is only love unconditional or is there more, and if so what? How have unconditional feelings affected my relationships? What do I want to see more of when it comes to something unconditional?

List or word bubble: Make a list or word bubble with unconditional at the center and then list or put around it all the other words that come to mind associated with it. From this list pick one word that fully represents what you see unconditional as and then write about one experience that you’ve had with this unconditional situation/feeling.

Bring your awareness to your feelings about unconditional and as those emotions flow, see where they stem from and where they go. As you’re doing this, visualize a calm setting that you usually go to when you want to feel good and at ease. With this in mind notice if there are changes in your feelings and if so, what types of changes exactly.

Your turn – Share your unconditional sentence, life examples, and inner growth action steps; and let me know if you’d like to see something added to our Inner Growth Word of The Day explorations 🙂

Lesson in a sentence: Every day holds at least one lesson that you acquire and can share with others.

Lesson in action: Gaining tips, notions, insights and more from a life experience is a lesson.

Lesson and inner growth: When it comes to lessons and inner growth there is much to be said, but in essence it is thanks to the lessons acquired and your mindset to find a lesson in everything you experience that brings about inner growth for you, your person and emotions, your actions, and your overall life.

Lesson and inner growth action steps:

In-depth self-exploration questions: What life information do I consider to be a lesson? What types of lessons are most obvious to me from my day to day experiences? Are there hidden lessons in my life that I have yet to explore or find? If so, how do I know this if they’re hidden? What are some of the most important lessons I’ve gained from my relationships? What lessons have I learned from my actions and reactions to life and situations I’ve been through in life?

List or word bubble: Make a list or word bubble with lesson at the center and then list or put around it all the other words that come to mind associated with it. From this list pick three words and next to each put a valuable lesson you learned through a life experience. Next pick one of these lessons and write about it using the rest of the words from your initial list.

Bring your awareness to your feelings about lessons and let them flow within. As you do this visualize an evenly flowing river, calm and sunny, and notice if your emotions follow along your visualization. Do they go where you see the river flowing or do they do something different? When you’re ready, bring in thoughts and notice what first lesson comes to mind. Focus on that lesson and see what emotions it brings about.

Your turn – Share your lesson sentence, life examples, and inner growth action steps; and let me know if you’d like to see something added to our Inner Growth Word of The Day explorations 🙂

Lifeless in a sentence: When something is lifeless, it is hard to understand what the depth of that something is and if there are reasons behind its lifeless state.

Lifeless in action: Something that expresses no flavor or color, no depth and no life, that is lifeless.

Lifeless and inner growth: Exploring lifeless characteristics gets us to formulate ideas around what could be done to bring those things to life. This exploration gives you insights into characteristics that are a part of you and that move you, get you to feel excited and motivated. With this awareness inner growth comes as you apply these thoughts daily and to lifeless things that come your way.

Lifeless and inner growth action steps:

In-depth self-exploration questions: What does lifeless mean to me? When did I first notice something lifeless? How have lifeless things played a role in my life? Why do I notice lifeless things? What type of lifeless characteristics do I notice most? How does something lifeless affect me? What are my takeaways from that which is lifeless?

List or word bubble: Make a list or word bubble with lifeless at the center and then list or put around it all the other words that come to mind associated with it. From this list pick one word that brings about the thought of an important event that happened in your life where lifeless characteristics were a part of the situation. Use the rest of the words to write about this event.

Bring your awareness to your feelings about lifeless and allow those feelings to flow through your body. Focus on the emotions that are more obvious and then move to focusing on the less obvious emotions. Visualize and feel all the emotions being the same now, the same strength, the same flow, the same depth. Next allow thoughts to come in and notice how those emotions change again (if they do).

Your turn – Share your lifeless sentence, life examples, and inner growth action steps; and let me know if you’d like to see something added to our Inner Growth Word of The Day explorations 🙂

We all go through struggles in life and this means we also search for solutions to those struggles. The hard part about finding these solutions is tuning in to your heart and finding your answers from within. This is difficult because of all the external inputs we get that guide us along the way at the beginning of our contemplative journey as individuals. So how can you turn a struggle around for you? How can you find that right solution for you through your heart and using the external inputs to actually help you identify your heart?

It all starts with you wanting to overcome your struggle and looking for solutions. In the absence of you searching for the right solution there would be no solutions to consider. So, it is thanks to those struggles that come your way that you are pushed to look at different ways to overcome an uncomfortable situation.

In time, you can tune in to your heart by listening to those solutions that you were told were the right solutions, but that don’t seem to be solving your struggles. As you follow those solutions there will continue to be unsettling feelings from within and it is these feelings you want to pay attention to so that you can find your solution.

Once you identify the uncomfortable feeling inside of you that takes place every time you take action according to someone else, it is then that you can start contemplating different solutions that you want to test out. You think of ways to find harmony within and this search is what will reveal your right solution.

The other part of the puzzle is remembering that you can learn from your struggles. By turning your struggles into opportunities, you transform struggles into things that happen in life, but that you can resolve in time through the love you have for yourself and the heightened awareness you have of those solutions that aren’t working for you.

As you go through these steps you will find that you change your perspective and adopt only solutions that resonate with you from within. These solutions, the ones that match your heart’s desire, are the right solutions for you. It is only when you identify these opportunities that you can stop seeing them as a struggle and work with yourself at a deeper level.

How do you feel about struggle? And what have you done to find your ‘perfect solution’?

Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition: (v.) 1 a. to spend time in idleness. 1 b. to move idly. 2. to run at low power and often disconnected usually so that power is not used for useful work (idle: (adj.) lacking worth or basis).

Idle in a sentence: When you are idle for a long time, you tend to stay idle until something creates a spark within you that gets you to do otherwise.

Idle in action: When there’s a sense of stagnation or slow down within; and/or you feel like staying still for some time, that is idle.

Idle and inner growth: When you think about your idle moments and what things bring an idle feeling within you this allows you to explore those aspects and look into ways to change this state of being. Taking action alongside awareness brings about inner growth.

Idle and inner growth action steps:

In-depth self-exploration questions: What does it mean to be idle to me? How has being idle affected my life? When was the last time I felt idle and why was this? What have I learned from being idle? Why do I become idle in some moments of my life? What takeaways have come from my being idle that have helped me grow?

List or word bubble: Make a list or word bubble with idle at the center and then list or put around it all the other words that come to mind associated with it. From this list think of one situation where your being idle brought about something positive in your life. Write about this moment using the words from your list.

Bring your awareness to your feelings about idle and take note of how your emotions flow within your body. With a focus on your emotions also visualize those emotions flowing down a river and as you do this notice what specific emotions stand out the most. Next bring in thoughts and pay attention if your feelings change or stay the same.

Your turn – Share your idle sentence, life examples, and inner growth action steps; and let me know if you’d like to see something added to our Inner Growth Word of The Day explorations 🙂

Exploring how to get outside of your head; understanding that being inside your head is a positive when you lift the weight; how removing self criticism for thinking allows you to learn & uncover more.

Exploring how to overcome confusion; looking at what brings about confusion & what can help you move away from confusion, while learning more about yourself & staying open to what comes your way daily.

Exploring defensiveness; its role in resistance, in how we see things & interact with others; & how letting your guard down helps release resistance, gain awareness of your role, & pursue inner growth.

Exploring how making assumptions affect your inner growth, your ability to learn from others & be open to life lessons; & a look at how to put assumptions aside to be able and see beyond in the moment.

Exploring social validation & image to understand how to release doubt of self-image & express your authentic self; how the online world holds its facades; & how network doesn't mean you're less or more.

Exploring the importance of mindset to how your life is, & the level of harmony & joys you experience; how to use awareness of your mindset & belief to lead transformation; & some ways you can do this.

Exploring how you can learn from the transformations, changes, & transitions that take place in life; being able to identify things that have transformed in you; & seeing how trust in your heart helps.